Temple pounds Delaware in tune-up for Kansas game

NEWARK, Del. - Temple coach Fran Dunphy anticipated the moment when he could add transfers Jesse Morgan and Devin Coleman to his lineup, but he also wondered about the challenges to team chemistry that might come with it.

On Thursday night against an overmatched Delaware team, Dunphy got his first look at the two transfers in cherry and white. The chemistry was just fine.

Morgan, a Massachusetts transfer who was playing his first game in almost two years, tied Quenton DeCosey with a team-high 16 points as the Owls cruised past the Blue Hens, 82-62, in a nonconference game at the Bob Carpenter Center.

A Clemson transfer, Coleman added nine points off the bench.

"I was a little nervous in the beginning, but after you run up and down the court a couple of times you realize you're just playing basketball, the game you've been playing your whole life," Coleman said.

The game produced the best three-point shooting performance by the Owls thus far. They were shooting 25.9 percent from long range this season, but they made eight threes on the way to a 37-21 halftime edge. They finished the game connecting on 16 of 33 three-pointers.

Fran Dunphy knows the Owls (7-4) will be tested substantially more on Monday when they host No. 10 Kansas.

"I'm a non-fool's gold guy," Dunphy said. "I don't think we take anything for granted. We know what the challenge is ahead for us on Monday night. We know need to play our best basketball if we want to be where we want to be."

The Owls' floor spacing was much better on Thursday than it has been, perhaps because of the better shooting. This enabled Will Cummings, who finished with 11 points, to hand out a career-high 10 assists. Cummings did not commit a turnover all night.

The Owls held the Blue Hens (0-8) to just 8-for-28 shooting in the first half. Temple took its largest lead, 60-35, on Morgan's three-pointer with 13 minutes, 1 second to play in the game.

Delaware guard Kyle Anderson led all scorers with 20 points. Forward Maurice Jeffers added 11 points and 12 rebounds.